Milan to Bern train ticket - trenitalia or SBB?

Hi everyone,

I am planning to buy train ticket from Milan to Bern and found out that it's much cheaper to buy from SBB, which costs CHF20 (special offer), compared to Trenitalia, which is selling at EUR39.

See the links below:

www.lefrecce.it/B2CWeb /search.do?parameter=searchOutput Viewer&cFID=5vhmRTKM7j jI

www.sbb.ch/ticketshop/ b2c/ipsSchritt_3_0.do

My questions are:

1. Are there any hidden costs for buying thru SBB? Still cant believe that the prices are so different.

2. How do I validate the tickets if I buy them from SBB?

3. I am turning 26 this November (born in Nov 1989). So does that mean that I am still considered 25 for the purpose of buying SBB tickets?

Appreciate the kind help from everyone!

Thanks.

Hi outsider,

Thank you for joining us! Please post your travel date and time so I can look into it. The links you provided do not show the specific train you have in mind.

Hi Arno,

Thanks for the prompt reply.

I am looking at the train that leaves Milan at 0723 on 25 Sept.

Thanks!

Hi outsider,

Thanks for the info. I was able to verify the fares you found. You'll be 25 during the trip, so that's the age you need to fill out. I don't think there's a discount because of your age though. The lower price is a non-refundable ticket. If you don't mind that, you can take advantage of that price. As far as I know you can print the ticket and that's all you need to do. Be sure to carefully read the instructions on the ticket.

One more note: if there's more traveling involved than just this single trip, it might be worth it to look into a rail pass. If you have one for Switzerland you would only need a ticket to the border, not all the way to Bern.

One more thing: an even cheaper option just became available. If you have not booked yet it might be able to check it out. Please see this thread.

Hi Arno,

Sorry for not replying earlier as i was caught up with work and thanks for the your reminder on rail passes in Switzerland as well as the promo by ACP rail.

Below is my travel plan:

D1: Milan to Bern

D2: Bern to Lauterbrunnen

D3: Travel within the Jungfrau region

D4: Lauterbrunnen to Lucerne

D5: Travel within Lucerne

D6: Lucerne to Basel

I am planning to get a 4-day Swiss Pass and use it for Day 2-5.

For Day 1 & 6, I plan to buy the point-to-point tickets (for Milan to Bern & Lucerne to Basel).

Is that the most economical way for my schedule?

Thanks in advance for your inputs!

Hi outsider,

It sounds like a good plan to me. On day 1, you will get free public transport if you book a hotel in town (see here). On day 5, I would not recommend to stay in town if the weather is good. Your Swiss Travel Pass includes a free trip to Mount Rigi, including the boats, so that might be a nice day trip. Whether the Swiss Travel Pass is the most economic option depends on all the details of your trip: you can list each and every trip and do the math to compare with the Swiss Half Fare Card. The Swiss Travel Pass is by far the most convenient one, and you will get an additional discount because you qualify as youth. Please see www.raileurope.com.sg/ pass/swiss-pass for the best prices for you as a resident of Malaysia.

Sorry to hijack this post, I have a question on the train journey from Bern to Milan too.

I just bought Swiss Travel Pass from raileurope.com, thanks to myswissalps.com for the promo info ;)

I intend to travel from Bern to Milan on 01Oct15, taking the train at 14:07. It has one stopover at Brig to switch train to EuroCity (EC) to go towards Milan. One of the intermediate stops for this leg of the journey is Domodossola.

1. Is seat reservation mandatory for the EC train?

2. From sbb.ch, the price quoted is 25 CHF (inclusive of Swiss Travel Pass) for Brig to Milan.

However, I found out that at trenitalia.com, the price quoted from Domodossola to Milan is 19 EUR.

Hence, can I just reserve seat from Domodossola to Milan, and not from Brig to Milan? This is since my Swiss Travel Pass covered until Domodossola.

Will I still be able to board the train from Brig using my Swiss Travel Pass without any seat reservation?

3. If so, where do I sit for the Brig to Domodossola train journery? Can I sit on the reserved seat that I have already booked from Domodossola to Milan?

Thank you in advance.

Hi klim29,

Glad to hear our info was useful to you!

1. Yes, but it's only mandatory for the Italian leg: Domodossola to Milan.

2./3. You only need a ticket and reservation from Domodossola onwards. You can board in Brig anyway, there's just a slight chance your seat will be taken until Domodossola if you only reserve from there. If it's not occupied you can sit there. You might be able to find even cheaper tickets. Please see my recent post about that. € 19 is a good price, and I found prices as low as € 9 on www.raileurope-world.com/train/italia n-international-trains, although not for this specific train.

Hi Arno,

Thank you for the info again :)

I checked acprail.com site but it doesnt have Milano Centrale as one of the stations?

Yes they have, but they simply call it "Milan". They may not have tickets for your train though, or not that cheap.

Ah, i see. I got this error "Petra2Service: 6023 - Requested station does not exist in timetable." when I tried Domodossola to Milan thus I thought there is no Milano Centrale station.